iPod

I miss my iPod. Ever since I had to give up my commuter rail pass and start driving to work, I haven't used it once. Now, when I was taking the train, the iPod was my solace - be it watching a video podcast or just zoning out to some tunes.

So, the other day I thought I would take the train to work instead of driving. I didn't have to take the kids to daycare, and the traffic had been particularly bad the day before, and it was raining. So before I left the house I thought I would just check to see if the iPod was charged - but I couldn't find it! I searched everywhere (or so I thought). But with no iPod in hand, I decided the train ride wouldn't be worth it, so I went ahead and drove into work.

I get to the parking garage behind my building, reach into my briefcase and pull out my umbrella, and lo and behold, there's the iPod. It was buried underneath the umbrella in my briefcase. Wouldn't have mattered anyway, though, because when I tried to turn it on, there was no charge so I wouldn't have been able to use it anyway.

Now the iPod is all charged up, but who knows when I'll get around to having some time to use it again.

Train

So, it was an easy commute to work this morning - gotta love the summertime. There were plenty of seats on the train so I was able to zone out with my iPod for the quick trip into Boston. Couldn't help thinking though that I only have 2 more weeks of train rides - then I'll have to drive. :-(

Its not that I mind driving, that will be fine - especially the days when I'll be taking Leo and Daniel to daycare and I can drive in the HOV lane! No, it will be the days when I have to drive by myself that I will dread. The traffic on the Southeast Expressway gets so bad sometimes where you end up just creeping along for almost half an hour just to get from the Braintree split to just past JFK. At least I'll have a parking space in the garage next to the building where I work - one of the perks of being an Associate. And I will no longer be tied to the train schedule. But I will miss the train. Some evenings, after a tough day at work, there's nothing better than simply sitting on the train instead of fighting traffic in the car. And this is all happening just when the new Greenbush commuter rail line is about to start!

.mp3

So over the weekend I heard this new song - hadn't really heard anything new in a while but I had been filling my iPod with mp3 files downloaded from allofmp3.com. So, I tried to go there this weekend and found the site was shutdown. Didn't take long to find an article about it. Since it was run by the Russians, they were trying to bypass US copyright laws. The article said the site was shut down in the interest of international trade agreements. What pissed me off was I still had about $20 in the 'bank' there!

Well, later I found the website had been re-formed as mp3sparks.com - it has the same layout and everything, just a different background color. I e-mailed them to find out if I could transfer my $20 from allofmp3.com - their reply was "Unfortunately, we cannot do that." So, I went out and bought the CD at a store. I'm not giving the Russians any more of my money.

Oh, and the song? "Under the Influence" by James Morrison.